Rosamund Pike advocates for new 'kick-ass female agent' instead of James Bond name-check

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Rosamund Pike is no stranger to the world of spycraft. She was a Bond girl in 007’s Die Another Day and an amateur schemer in David Fincher’s Gone Girl, and plays a CIA agent in the upcoming Beirut. The actress channels a cool confidence that makes her adept for roles that require intense intelligence, emotional distance, and all-around badassery. So of course, she’s one of the first people to come to mind amid talk of recasting James Bond after Daniel Craig departs the role post-Bond 25.

But when it comes to possibly stepping into the iconic spy’s shoes, Pike has other ideas about where the genre should go. In conversation with Uproxx, Pike was asked whether Bond should be reimagined as a female character, given her history with the franchise. Pike responded by dismissing the notion that a female spy should have to originate from the character (who is historically pretty sexist). “I’d just say write a new story,” Pike said, continuing with the idea that if the franchise were to go in that direction, filmmakers should “take one of the Bond Girls and give her her own story.”

Being shoehorned into the character just for the name-drop seems like “sloppy seconds” to Pike, who would rather see a new “kick-ass female agent in her own right.” That retconning can be seen as counter-intuitive when movies like Atomic Blonde have done so well creating their own female agents. “You can’t always just flip it and just say, ‘Oh, she’s a woman now.’ I mean, that’s to underestimate a woman entirely, I think. There’s nothing really about the James Bond character as written by Ian Fleming that resembles a woman,” Pike finished.

Well, almost finished. Before leaving the topic, Pike was sure to note that if such an “an unexpected, unapologetic, kick-ass, amazing female agent” was created, then yeah, she’ll definitely be on board to play her.